Pam, As others have mentioned, it was likely the opening of western lands for homesteading. With the Lousiana Purchase in the very early 1800's, the west opened rapidly along the Ohio river and the Great Lakes, and continued until some of the last western lands were opened to homesteading in the very early 1900's. (Northwestern South Dakota about 1904, for example). Also, a lot of people followed canal development to Illinois before the Civil war and railroad development across the continent just after the Civil War. I would like to know if anyone has one good reference on the dates of the opening of settlement lands state-by-state. In the case of my family (Drake, Clark), they left Cortland County in the 1830's and settled in northern Illinois/Wisconsin. In between, there are some lost years. People of their names homesteaded in western Ohio and I will eventually establish if this was indeed the same family. From records of other descendants, they successively lived in Wisconsin, eastern SD, western SD, Montana, and Oregon. Many "bounced" back to live near family that setttled in these various places. It has been a successful research technique to look for family records, and relatives, along this path. One ancestor that returned to New York from Wisconsin about 1860 was Nathan Whitman(was married to Elizabeth Drake). I have never relocated his trail in New York, and if anyone has information I would appreciate it. Pam, have fun on your research, Earl Pam wrote: > My BROOKS and BURR ancestors moved from Cortland County, NY to Franklin > County, Iowa prior to 1860. Does anyone know what might have been happening in > Cortland County to have caused this migration? > -- > Peace and Gentle Sunsets, > Pam > > ==== NYCORTLA Mailing List ==== > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query!